Cynthia Erivo, Colman Domingo & Alexander Skarsgård Share a Laugh With Anna Wintour at Valentino’s Paris Show

Paris Fashion Week doesn’t do quiet Sundays. On October 4, the Valentino Antibiblioteca Spring-Summer 2027 show turned its front row into the cast list of a movie that doesn’t exist: Cynthia Erivo, Alexander Skarsgård, and Colman Domingo trading jokes with Anna Wintour, photographers scrambling for the angle, and the whole fashion circus in full swing.

If there were any doubt that Paris remains the capital of the celebrity-sighting economy, this one morning erased it. Three of the most awards-decorated actors working right now — a stage-and-screen powerhouse, a prestige-TV titan, and Hollywood’s reigning red-carpet king — parked themselves in the house’s front row, and somehow the woman who has seen it all was laughing along with them.

A Front Row That Reads Like an Awards Ballot

Let’s take stock of who we’re dealing with here, because this wasn’t your garden-variety celebrity turnout.

Erivo, of course, is the rare performer whose résumé reads like a dare. A Tony winner for The Color Purple, an Oscar nominee for both Harriet and her era-defining turn as Elphaba in Wicked, plus a Grammy and an Emmy on the shelf — she’s been collecting the alphabet of entertainment honors for the better part of a decade. These days she can seemingly do no wrong: one week she’s belting a showstopper, the next she’s closing out a fashion show front row like it’s her second office.

Skarsgård brings his own brand of quiet menace-turned-charm. For years he was Eric Northman, the thousand-year-old Viking vampire of True Blood — a role that made him the internet’s favorite brooding immortal — before pivoting hard into prestige territory: an Emmy-winning turn as the terrifying Perry Wright in Big Little Lies, the twitchy tech heir Lukas Matsson in Succession, and a gloriously unhinged Amleth in The Northman. His presence at Valentino wasn’t ceremonial, either: he’s a Valentino Beauty brand ambassador, so the house is literally his day job.

And then there’s Colman Domingo, who has quietly become the best-dressed man in any room he enters — which, lately, is a lot of rooms. An Emmy winner for Euphoria and a two-time Oscar nominee for Rustin and Sing Sing, Domingo has spent the last few awards seasons giving masterclasses in menswear, often with stylist Law Roach somewhere in the vicinity. His Valentino role is the most official of the three: a global brand ambassador for the house.

The fact that all three ended up giggling with Wintour — the woman whose front-row poker face is practically a cultural artifact — says plenty. Something funny was happening in those seats, and honestly? Good for them. Fashion week can be a grind of dead-eyed posing; a genuine laugh is the rarest accessory of all.

What They Wore: Alessandro Michele’s Cruise 2027 Uniform

Coordinated dressing is having a moment, and the Valentino trio leaned all the way in. All three wore looks from the house’s Cruise 2027 Collection by creative director Alessandro Michele — who has been steering the Roman maison since 2024 with his signature maximalist, history-drunk eye.

Erivo carried the Valentino Garavani Spike bag with her look, a nice bit of styling synergy — the bag is one of the house’s most recognizable hardware signatures, and on her it looked less like product placement and more like a natural extension of her whole persona. Bold jewelry, bold silhouette, zero hesitation. Classic Cynthia.

Skarsgård and Domingo both finished their Cruise 2027 looks with Valentino Garavani loafers, which sounds like a small detail until you remember that the loafer is quietly the hardest-working shoe in menswear right now. On Skarsgård — all Scandinavian bone structure and dry wit — it read effortless. On Domingo, who treats a red carpet like a stage, it read deliberate. Same shoes, two completely different energies. That’s the fun of watching real dressers at work.

The Guest List Kept Going

As stacked as the headliners were, the second row of names was no slouch either. Joe Alwyn, Zoey Deutch, Samara Weaving, Naomi Watts, and singer Clairo all turned up for the Antibiblioteca presentation, giving the show a genuinely cross-generational pull — indie film, prestige drama, pop music, and a former Twin Peaks-adjacent heartthrob, all under one roof.

The night also delivered a soft-launch moment: Off Campus stars Mika Abdalla, 26, and Josh Heuston, 29, made their official event debut as a couple at the show. For the uninitiated, Off Campus is Netflix’s adaptation of the beloved campus-romance novels, and its young cast has been steadily becoming tabloid fixtures. Choosing a Valentino front row in Paris for your red-carpet debut as a pair? That’s confidence. That’s also, frankly, excellent PR instincts.

Also spotted: Faith Kidman Urban, Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s daughter, continuing her slow emergence onto the fashion scene — and Law Roach himself, the image architect behind some of the most memorable red-carpet moments of the decade, holding court among his handiwork.

A Paris Double Header

Sunday’s show was the cherry on top of an already chaotic weekend for the fashion crowd. The day before, Domingo and Roach were among the many bold names at the BoF500 Gala at the Shangri-La Hotel Paris — the industry’s annual who’s-who, where the guest list is basically a group chat come to life. Ciara showed up flaunting a baby bump in a sheer dress, Heidi Klum brought daughter Lou Samuel, and the room was packed with the usual mix of designers, editors, and famous faces.

Two galas, one fashion show, countless outfit changes. October in Paris is not for the faint of heart — or the lightly packed suitcase.

Why This Front Row Actually Matters

It’s easy to roll your eyes at front-row coverage. Rich famous people sit in chairs, wear expensive clothes, clap politely — what’s the story? But this particular tableau is worth a second look, because it captures something real about where celebrity and fashion are right now.

For one thing, the lines between “actor,” “ambassador,” and “muse” have basically dissolved. Skarsgård isn’t just attending as a famous face; he’s on the beauty payroll. Domingo isn’t just a fan of the clothes; he’s a global ambassador. Erivo isn’t just a guest; she’s the kind of cultural figure whose attendance is itself a co-sign. When all three show up in full Cruise 2027 looks, the front row stops being an audience and becomes part of the collection’s rollout.

There’s also the Alessandro Michele factor. Since taking the creative reins, Michele has pushed Valentino toward a more theatrical, reference-dense, personality-driven vision — and a front row full of actual personalities (a Tony-winning belter, a prestige-TV chameleon, an awards-season style icon, plus Wintour) is exactly the audience that aesthetic was built for. The clothes and the crowd were speaking the same language.

And then there’s the simplest read: joy. In an era when celebrity appearances often feel focus-grouped to death, three major stars caught mid-laugh with fashion’s most formidable editor is just… fun. No scandal, no feud, no cryptic Instagram post to decode. Just famous people having a genuinely good time at a fashion show, in the city that invented the concept.

With two more days of Paris Fashion Week shows still to come, the bar has been set — and it’s sitting in the Valentino front row, laughing.

Source: Just Jared